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File:File:Chuck howley cowboys.jpg Signed photo of Howley with the Dallas Cowboys | |||
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| Born | June 28 1936 in Wheeling, West Virginia, U.S. | ||
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| Career information | |||
| NFL Draft | 1958 / Round: 1 / Pick: 7 | ||
| College | West Virginia (1954–1957) | ||
| Professional teams | |||
| Career stats | |||
| Interceptions / Int. Yards | 25 INT, 399 yards | ||
| Touchdowns / Fumbles recoverd | 2 TDs, 18 fumbles recovered | ||
| Games played | 180 | ||
| Stats at NFL.com | |||
| Stats at pro-football-reference.com | |||
| Career highlights and awards | |||
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* Super Bowl champion (VI)
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Charles Louis "Chuck" Howley (born June 28, 1936, in Wheeling, West Virginia) is a former American football linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons, primarily with the Dallas Cowboys. He spent his first two seasons with the Chicago Bears, who selected him seventh overall in the 1958 NFL Draft, before playing the remainder of his career for th Dallas Cowboys. Recognized as an original member of the Doomsday Defense, Howley received six Pro Bowl and five first-team All-Pro selections, while appearing in two consecutive Super Bowls and winning Super Bowl VI. Howley was also named the MVP of Super Bowl V and is the only player on a losing team to receive the award. He will be inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2023.
Playing career[]
Howley played with the Cowboys for 165 games over thirteen seasons, in two NFL championship games and two Super Bowls.[1] He was also named most valuable player of Super Bowl V, after intercepting two passes and forcing a fumble in the Cowboys' 16-13 loss to the Colts, making him the first defensive player and non-quarterback to receive the honor. To date, he is also the only player from the losing team to win the award. Howley stated that he did not care about the award, which meant nothing to him since Dallas had lost, and only accepted the honor because it included the awarding of a brand-new station wagon that he could give to his wife as a gift.
The following season, Dallas made it back to Super Bowl VI, and Howley recorded a fumble recovery and a 41-yard interception in the Cowboys 24-3 win over the Miami Dolphins.[2]
During his career, Howley intercepted 25 passes, returning them for 399 yards and two touchdowns. He finished with more than 100 yards in interception returns for both the 1968 and 1971 seasons. He also recovered 18 fumbles, returning them for 191 yards and one touchdown. He is second in Cowboys' history with his 17 fumbles recovered. His 97-yard return of a fumble during a game against the Atlanta Falcons on October 2, 1966, is still the second longest in Cowboys history. He also had a large number of tackles and quarterback sacks, but these statistics were not compiled until after Howley's career ended so his unofficial sack total is 26.5 according to the Dallas Cowboys with a career-high of 5.5 sacks in 1965. Howley was named first-team All-Pro five times in his career, was a six-time Pro Bowler and was named to the All-Eastern Conference team in 1963.[3]
Howley suffered a left knee injury from a crackback block by Charley Taylor in the win over rival Washington Redskins late in the 1972 Dallas Cowboys regular season.[4] He missed the playoffs and retired in June.[5][6] In 1973, he made a brief return to the team and appeared in one game, before retiring for good.[7] His thirteen seasons for the Cowboys ties him for the second longest tenure in franchise history. In 1977, Howley was inducted into the Ring of Honor at Texas Stadium, the fourth player to receive that honor. He also was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame.[8]
In 2007, he was among the 17 finalists to be seniors candidates for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The website notinthehalloffame.com ranks Howley as the third-greatest player not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.[9] In 2006, the Professional Football Researchers Association named him to the PFRA Hall of Very Good.[10] On August 17, 2022, Howley was announced as one of the three finalists nominated by the senior committee for induction in the 2023 NFL Hall of Fame class.[11]On February 9, 2023 Chuck Howley was selected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.[12]
See also[]
References[]
- ↑ Canton Conundrum: The Best Linebackers Not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
- ↑ Dallas Dumps Dolphins. news.google.com. Retrieved on February 19, 2016.
- ↑ Chuck Howley Retires From Pro Football. news.google.com. Retrieved on June 15, 2023.
- ↑ "Illegal blocking claim irks Dallas' Alworth", December 13, 1972, p. 2B.
- ↑ "Dallas playoff-bound without Howley", December 11, 1972, p. 4C.
- ↑ "Injured Howley mum concerning retirement", December 12, 1972, p. 1B. Retrieved on June 15, 2023.
- ↑ "Dallas' Howley ends retirement", September 19, 1973, p. 3C.
- ↑ Texas Sports Hall of Fame website
- ↑ 6. Chuck Howley (in en-gb). Retrieved on 2019-04-11.
- ↑ Hall of Very Good. ProFootballResearchers.org. Retrieved on June 15, 2023.
- ↑ Joe Klecko, Ken Riley, and Chuck Howley named as finalists for 2023 Hall of Fame induction.
- ↑ After Long Wait, Chuck Howley Gets HOF Call (in en-US). www.dallascowboys.com. Retrieved on 2023-02-11.
External links[]
- Chuck Howley article at Wikipedia
